[LINK] "1 Million Nicaraguans Have Emigrated to Costa Rica"

[rfmcdonald]

Movements from poor countries to richer ones are quotidian, but the Latin American Herald Tribune points to one of the lesser-known migrations in the Western Hemisphere.

About 1 million Nicaraguans have emigrated to neighboring Costa Rica seeking a better life due to the dire poverty and lack of jobs in their own country, according to the International Organization for Migration.

With a population of 5.6 million inhabitants - more than half of them under 18 - with an annual growth of 2.7 percent, Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the Americas, "is facing a tremendous challenge to overcome its poverty," IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy said Friday in Geneva.

That challenge, he said, particularly affects women, since a quarter of Nicaraguan households are headed by women.

[. . . ]

In the last 30 years, Nicaraguan emigration has been spurred by natural disasters, political conflicts and economic hardship.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, has become a magnet for people without professional qualifications thanks to the abundant job market in sectors less attractive to the native population - above all in agriculture, construction and domestic service.

Though there are no exact figures, it is estimated that 250,000 Nicaraguans reside permanently in Costa Rica, while a similar number stay in the country only as long as their temporary jobs last.